Seat belts on school buses: what do you think?

This past Wednesday, State Rep. Kathleen Chandler (D-Kent) introduced a bill that would require school buses purchased, leased or rented after Jan. 1, 2014 to have lap and shoulder belts. The issue arose after video footage from a bus accident from a few years ago, currently available on YouTube, showed kids flying out of their seats upon impact.

Those against the bill say seat belts are not needed because school buses are built so well. Statistics show buses have a fatality rate of .2 per 100 million miles, compared to a passenger car fatality rate of 1.44.

The bill is currently being debated in the Ohio House.

What do you think? Do you feel your child is safe on a school bus? Would you want to see seat belts added to buses? What do you think about enforcing this among the riders?

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2 Responses to “Seat belts on school buses: what do you think?”

It sounds like a great idea to improve safety etc., but is it going to change things in reality? I seriously doubt if kids will buckle themselves in on the bus because they are so “socially involved” while riding it would interfere with their activities. If the rate now is .2 in a bus with no seat belts, and 1.44 in a car with seat belts, there comes a point where you’re throwing money at a problem that will probably never get any better.

The bus driver is simply not capable of monitoring if the seat belts are fastened. If the legislators keep going down this road, next you will have sensors in the seats interlocked with the seat belts and drive train of the bus. Keep your wallets open.